France vs Australia live updates: Start time, streaming, line-ups and predictions

Australia: 5/10, very pedestrian, decent vocals

France: 9/10, we all know this

...and welcome/bienvenue/"ah, look, mate" to all of you without a television. For those who do have a television, why the hell are you reading an internet liveblog in the year 2022?

Anyway: tennis player Mylene Halemai, skiing ace Tessa Worley, Richie Benaud's ancestors, the 1995 French consulate bombing in Perth and 1959 thriller The Restless and the Damned, your boys are....well, you all need to pick a side, because this is France vs Australia and it kicks off at the erotically-shaped Al Janoub Stadium in Doha in a moment.

The two teams are out on the pitch and the national anthems are about to be played.

France to beat Australia.

France to win: 55 per cent. Australia to win: 25 per cent. Draw: 20 per cent.

All of our predictions for the 2022 World Cup are powered by Nielsen’s Gracenote, who have used a proprietary football ranking system to estimate the chances of different results for every possible match through extensive simulations, to assess the chances for each team to reach different stages of the tournament.

It is the first game of the 2022 World Cup that will be played in the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah and kick-off is at 19:00 GMT (14:00 EST, 20:00 CET & 06:00 on Nov. 23 AEST) which equates to 22:00 local time.

UK viewers will be able to watch the match on BBC One with FOX and Telemundo having the rights in the US. TF1 and beIN Sports have the television rights for the tournament in France while SBS being Australia’s World Cup broadcaster.

Antoine Griezmann will be tasked with providing France's creativity from the No 10 role with Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe on the wings.

Olivier Giroud leads the line in place of the injured Karim Benzema, who will miss the whole tournament.

Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate starts at the heart of France's defence alongside Dayot Upamecano.

France XI: Lloris; Pavard, Upamecano, Konate, Lucas Hernandez; Rabiot, Tchouameni; Mbappe, Griezmann, Dembele; Giroud.

Australia XI: Ryan; Behich, Rowels, Souttar, Atkinson; Irvine, Mooy, McGree; Goodwin, Duke, Leckie.

Manchester United have reached an agreement with Cristiano Ronaldo to terminate his contract.

The Athletic reported last week that United had started a legal process against Ronaldo for breach of contract after his interview with Piers Morgan.

That work has developed rapidly and the 37-year-old’s exit has been finalised.

Ronaldo conducted a highly-critical interview prior to the World Cup — where the attacker is set to play for Portugal — in which he accused his employers of betrayal and took swipes at head coach Erik ten Hag, as well as the club’s hierarchy.

GO FURTHER

Manchester United agree Cristiano Ronaldo exit with immediate effect

This is Giroud’s sixth major international tournament and, given the relative youth of the France squad overall, the AC Milan striker has an important role to play behind the scenes.

With Karim Benzema ruled out by injury, this could be Giroud's chance to resume the role he played to such excellent effect in France's triumph four years ago.

He refers to himself as a “big brother” figure to younger members of the group and wants to motivate and support those experiencing their first international competition.

But looking at personal accolades, he only needs two goals to tie Thierry Henry's all-time goalscoring record...

GO FURTHER

Didier Deschamps trying to settle squad as France’s World Cup defence looms

Garang Kuol, the second-youngest player at the World Cup, will be one to watch for Australia.

The 18-year-old forward will join Newcastle United during the January transfer window.

This tournament will give fans of Eddie Howe's side the chance to see him in action before his big move in the new year.

GO FURTHER

Garang Kuol: The Australian prodigy Newcastle fans will be watching at this World Cup

France are missing several big names for their World Cup title defence.

Midfielders N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba played a big role in their 2018 triumph but were ruled out before France's squad was named.

Karim Benzema was ruled out of the tournament on Sunday after tearing a muscle in his left thigh during a training session.

Presnel Kimpembe withdrew from the World Cup after struggling to recover from an injury, while Christopher Nkunku suffered a knee sprain in training on the eve of the tournament.

• N'Golo Kante
• Paul Pogba
• Karim Benzema
• Presnel Kimpembe
• Christopher Nkunku

We have profiled 100 players at this year's World Cup for The Radar.

Five players from France are included (Ousmane Dembele, Randal Kolo Muani, Kylian Mbappe, Aurelien Tchouameni and the now injured Karim Benzema) and two from Australia (Garang Kuol and Awer Mabil) make the cut.

Make sure you check out our carefully crafted guide in the build up to this game.

It's the perfect read before kick-off.

GO FURTHER

The Radar – The Athletic’s 2022 World Cup scouting guide

Australian fans are at once perennially optimistic and yet very much open-eyed about the significant limitations of the current side.

The Australians have only once squeaked beyond a World Cup group stage — in Germany in 2006, when four points proved enough. Then, a controversial late penalty awarded to eventual champions Italy sent them home after the round of 16 (a decision which still rankles today). Australia’s Group D opponents bring a sense of deja vu from four years ago. They open against France (just like they did at the previous finals in 2018) and also face Denmark (another of their group opponents in Russia). Tunisia are the only fresh opponents, replacing Peru.

Realistically, Australia will do well to beat any of these sides. Injuries and internal disharmony within the France team might help (as will that match being the first of the group, before either side finds its rhythm having not been able to play warm-up games because of the truncated schedule).

GO FURTHER

Australia World Cup 2022 squad guide: Fitness worries leave only cautious optimism

They didn't impress in the group stages, but grew stronger and stronger as the last World Cup went on, winning every knockout match in normal time.

GS: W 2-1 vs Australia

GS: W 1-0 vs Peru

GS: D 0-0 vs Denmark

R16: W 4-3 vs France

QF: W 2-0 vs Uruguay

SF: W 1-0 vs Belgium

F: W 4-2 vs Croatia

However, reigning champions have gone out in the group stages at four of the last five tournaments...

(Photo: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)

France’s World Cup preparations suffered another alarming disruption in the hours before the tournament began. Karim Benzema, such a crucial figure on and off the pitch, tore a muscle in his quadricep on Saturday evening. The injury itself should take three weeks to heal but the scars of missing out on this World Cup at the age of 34 will linger for far longer.

Benzema, who arrived in Doha in the final stages of recovery from knee and hamstring trouble, was training with the group for the first time having worked separately with the fitness coaches. One second they were thinking about upping his involvement, the next Benzema’s World Cup was over. An MRI scan at a local hospital confirmed the bad news and once Didier Deschamps consulted with the French team doctor, there was nothing to do but console the player and go back to a drawing board that has already had more than its fair share of crossing out.

No replacement will be called up by Deschamps.

GO FURTHER

Benzema injury is latest France blow – Deschamps must feel like champions are cursed

Welcome to our live blog for the Group D match between France and Australia.

The world champions have been hit with injuries to key personnel including Paul Pogba and Karim Benzema but they will still fancy their chances against Australia.

Their Group D rivals Denmark and Tunisia are currently in action with the two nations failing to find a breakthrough before the half-time break.